WARHOLA with his children. Courtesy photo
On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Layton resident was raising two beautiful children with his wife in a comfortable home. By day’s end, everything was gone. Now Warhola has an empty home and a heart full of sadness mixed with fond memories of 8-year-old James and 7-year-old Jean Marie.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Warhola said. “I know it happened. I viewed my children's’ bodies, and we had a closed casket viewing — and I buried them on Friday the 17th, but it just doesn’t seem real.”
Police suspect Warhola’s wife, Sun Cha, strangled the children to death in a room barricaded with a bed. Warhola is in custody charged with aggravated murder. And while she is facing an uncertain future, Ken Warhola can’t even see the future.
“I am working on grave stones for the children so that is where my future is right now,” Warhola said. “That’s about as far as I can look into my future. I just am taking life one day at a time, one moment at a time.”
Warhola described James and Jean Marie as two children cruising through life. The two bright, popular students at East Layton Elementary School were outgoing, silly, fun, and very polite. They had all types of interests and gave to the world the love Warhola did his best to give them on a daily basis…and then it all disappeared.
“It sounds trite to say it this way, but it’s as if we were moving along smoothly on a bicycle enjoying the ride,” he said. “And then a screw driver was stuck in the spokes and everything just came to a screeching halt. Some people would say it’s having the rug pulled out from under them.”
Police report Warhola returned home from work on Sept. 8 and when he called for his children his wife asked from behind a closed bedroom door to give her 20 minutes. When Ken returned he had to force himself into the bedroom where he discovered the bodies of his children with Sun Cha. Police arrived shortly after and the children were pronounced dead.
“It’s been three weeks and so much has happened in that time that in so many ways things just feel surreal,” Warhola said. “So I do what I think is best.
“I go to grief counseling. It’s helpful and I will continue to go to counseling. I know I need help from professionals in dealing with this tragedy.”
As for his wife, Warhola would only say, “I can’t comment on that.”
There is much Warhola cannot say due to the investigation and upcoming trial against Sun Cha. He would rather focus on the days when James and Jean Marie giggled and played with him and the family dog, Indie.
“I miss them,” Warhola said. “It’s extremely difficult. The future…I don’t know what the future holds because everything has changed.”
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